Early in December 1780 Tupac Amaru crossed the Vilcañota range, by the pass of Santa Rosa, and, entering the Collao, advanced by Pucara to Lampa. At every village he addressed the people from the church-steps, saying that he came to abolish abuses and punish the corregidors; and that he was "the liberator of the kingdom, the restorer of privileges, and the common father of those who groan under the yoke of repartos." Nothing was heard amongst the Indians but acclamations for their Inca and Redeemer.[219] On the 13th of December he entered the town of Azangaro, where he destroyed the houses of the Cacique Chuquihuanca, who had refused to join the insurrection. A private letter, dated January 1781,[220] says that he rode into Azangaro on a white horse, with splendidly-embroidered trappings, and that two fair men, like Englishmen, of commanding aspect, were on his right and left. He was armed with a gun, sword, and pistols, and was dressed in blue velvet, richly embroidered with gold, with a three-cornered hat, and an uncu, in the shape of a bishop's rochet, over all, with a gold chain round his neck, to which a large golden sun was attached. Having received repeated letters from his wife, reporting the threatening assembly of troops at Cuzco, he retraced his steps, by Asillo and Orurillo, to the valley of the Vilcamayu, obliging the curas of the villages through which he passed to receive him in their churches under a canopy, and to chant the Te Deum.
On the 28th the heights of Picchu, overhanging Cuzco on the west, were covered with his army. His cousin Diego Tupac Amaru was detached to the eastward with 6000 men, to occupy the provinces of Calca and Paucartambo. Another detachment under Antonio Castelo, one of the Inca's most trusted followers, marched along the direct road to Cuzco, but was defeated two leagues from the city at a place called Saylla, and finally effected a junction with the main body on the heights of Picchu.
Before attempting to force his way into Cuzco, the Inca addressed a letter to the cabildo, and another to the bishop, on the 3rd of January, 1781. To the cabildo he said that, as the heir of the Incas, the ancient kings of the realm, he was stimulated to endeavour by all possible means to put an end to abuses, and to see men appointed to govern the Indians who would respect the laws of the King of Spain. The punishment of the Corregidor of Tinta was, he declared, absolutely necessary as an example to others: and he announced the object of his rebellion to be the entire abolition of repartos; the appointment of an alcalde mayor, or judge of the Indian nation, in every province; and the establishment of an audiencia or court of appeal at Cuzco, within reach of the Indians. "This," he concluded, "is at present the extent of my wishes, leaving to the King of Spain his former dominion." To the bishop he said that he had come forward, on behalf of the whole nation, to put an end to the robberies and outrages of the corregidors; and he promised to respect the priests, all church property, and all women and inoffensive unarmed people.[221]
But the garrison of Cuzco had, in the mean while, been reinforced by Pumacagua, the Cacique of Chinchero, and by 200 mulatto soldiers from Lima under Don Gabriel de Aviles, who arrived by forced marches on January 1st. The cabildo, therefore, refused to entertain any proposals from the Inca. The Spaniards came out to attack him under Don Pablo Astete, and the Caciques of Chinchero and Anta, Pumacagua and Rosas. There was a long skirmish in the broken ground, which was brought to a conclusion by the evening snow; but on the 8th a sanguinary battle was fought in the suburbs and on the heights, which lasted two days, and during which a Dominican friar, named Ramon de Salazar, concealed behind a rock, did effective service with his musket, and contributed to throw the Indians into confusion. The Inca finally retreated to Tinta, to re-organize his forces.
His cousin Diego Tupac Amaru was also unsuccessful to the eastward. His division was detached from the main army at Checacupe, where he crossed some mountainous country, and again descended into the valley of the Vilcamayu, following the course of the river until he encountered the forces under the command of the Marquis of Rocafuerte, consisting of the levies of Pumacagua, Cacique of Chinchero, and those of the Caciques of Maras and Huayllabamba. An engagement took place at Huaran, on the banks of the river, near Calca, when Diego was defeated, many of his Indians being drowned in the river; and he again suffered defeat at Yucay on December 23rd. The Indian chief then left the valley of the Vilcamayu, crossed a range of mountains, and laid siege to the town of Paucartambo, on the banks of the rapid river of the same name, while his videttes hovered over the heights above the Vilcamayu valley, threatening the towns of Calca, Pissac, and Taray. Don José Antonio Vivar was sent to occupy the bridge at Urubamba, and watch the movements of the Indians. Paucartambo, and a strong fort built on a rocky height on the opposite side of the river, were desperately defended by the Spaniards under Don Lorenzo Lechuga, who had fortified and garrisoned the place. Astete was sent across the bridge at Urubamba, with 400 men, to relieve it; they had several encounters with the Indians on the march, and on reaching the besieged town they found that Lechuga had expended all his ammunition; but the besieging force, under Diego Tupac Amaru, fell back towards Tinta, on the approach of Astete, on the 18th of January, 1781. Having re-organized his army at Tinta, the Inca, accompanied by his cousin Diego, made another attack upon Paucartambo on the 11th of February; but, after several fruitless assaults, the Indian army finally retreated to Tinta on the 14th.[222]
Tupac Amaru had now assembled a force of 60,000 men in and around Tinta; but they were wholly undisciplined, and only a few hundreds were armed with muskets. All the caciques in Peru, with the exception of sixteen,[223] had, however, declared in favour of the Inca; and the whole Indian and mestizo population, except the ayllus or tribes of the sixteen Hispanicized caciques, longed earnestly for the success of this truly national insurrection. After the retreat from Paucartambo in February, the Inca occupied himself in strengthening his position round Tinta, and in visiting the distant provinces of Chuquibamba and Cotabambas, while one Isidro Mamani, an Indian of ferocious character, born at Pomata, on the banks of lake Titicaca, Pedro Vargas, and Andres Ingaricona, held the open country in the Collao.
The whole of the interior of Central and Upper Peru was in revolt, and the viceroys of Peru and Buenos Ayres, Don Augustin de Jauregui and Don Juan José de Vertiz, were thoroughly alarmed. The former despatched Don José Antonio Areche, as "visitador," with extraordinary judicial powers, and a force commanded by Don José del Valle as Mariscal del Campo, to Cuzco; while the latter named Don Ignacio Flores, then Governor of Moxos, as commandante-general, to put down the rebellion in Upper Peru.
Areche, accompanied by General José del Valle, and Don Benito de la Matta Linares, a judge of the Royal Audience at Lima, arrived at Cuzco on February 23rd, 1781, where an army of 15,000 men was collected, consisting of the tribes of the recreant caciques, negroes and mulattos from the coast, and a small force of Spaniards.
Early in March General del Valle prepared to commence the campaign. But, before his army marched out of Cuzco, the visitador Areche received a letter from Tupac Amaru, in which he represented the earnest endeavours he had made to obtain justice for his people; the habitual violation of the law by the Spanish officials; the cruel and intolerable oppression caused by the repartimentos and the mita; and the absolute necessity of some reform in the administration. He concluded by proposing a negotiation by which these ends might be attained without bloodshed. This despatch is very ably written, and is a monument of the noble and enlightened views of this great but most unfortunate patriot.[224] The answer of the visitador Areche was a brutal menace, better suited to a follower of Zengis Khan than to a Christian judge. He refused all negotiation, vowed the most horrible vengeance, and concluded by saying that, if the Inca surrendered at once, the cruelty of the mode of his execution would be lessened. The Spanish General del Valle protested against the brutality of this reply.[225]
Tupac Amaru now prepared to resist to the utmost, as it became evident to him that complete independence or death were the only two alternatives which were left by the barbarous policy of the bloodthirsty visitador; but his edicts were still marked by humanity and good sense. It does not appear that he ever actually proclaimed himself a sovereign independent of Spain; yet the draft of an edict was found amongst his papers, in which he styles himself "Don José I., by the grace of God, Inca, King of Peru, Quito, Chile, Buenos Ayres, and the continents of the South Sea, Lord of the River of the Amazons, with dominion over the Grand Paytiti." The document is headed by a portrait of Tupac Amaru, crowned, with Spanish trophies at his feet. It states that the King of Castille had usurped the crown and dominions of Peru, imposing innumerable taxes, tributes, duties, excises, monopolies, tithes, fifths; appointing officers who sold justice, and treating the people like beasts of burden. For these causes, and by reason of the cries which have risen up to Heaven, in the name of Almighty God, it is ordered that no man shall henceforward pay money to any Spanish officer, excepting the tithes to priests; but that tribute shall be paid to the Inca, and an oath of allegiance to him be taken in every town and village. The document is without date.[226]